Days after suffering a hard fought loss at the hands of Grace College this past Saturday, the Goshen College women’s volleyball team took a break from its conference schedule to score a win against the Ravens of Anderson University this past Tuesday night at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium on the Anderson campus.

On Saturday, the Leafs were shooting for their third straight conference win but were slightly overmatched by the Lancers as they were defeated in four sets 24-26, 26-24, 25-27, 15-25. Unable to earn a victory in a hard fought first set, Goshen rallied back from a slow start and a quick five-point deficit to snag the second set. Things remained interesting in the third as the Leafs dominated by way of a 19-12 lead, but the Lancers would not go away as they took nine of the last 11 points to complete the comeback. The Lancers then rode their hot hand to a deciding 25-15 fourth set victory.

Fast forward to Tuesday and the tide turned as Goshen (7-5) used nine kills from Hallie Vanitvelt, sophomore, and eight from Kylie Giger, first-year, to sweep the Ravens 25-18, 25-21, 25-23.

Action started off even in the contest as the Leafs saw the first set slip from a comfortable 10-6 lead to a 10-10 tie before rattling off four straight by way of a Vanitvelt kill and multiple attacking errors by Anderson to regain a four-point cushion. That spark was all they needed as it was smooth sailing for the Leafs through the first two stanzas.

In the third – and eventually final set – the Ravens proved to be a tough out. The score throughout the final stanza remained at a virtual deadlock with 15 tied scores. In need of a closer, the Leafs once again looked to Vanitvelt, who scored the final two points of the 25-23 win by way of a kill.

On the night, the Leafs outhit their opponent .171 to .079 with seven team blocks, 63 digs and six aces. Ally Roehr, first-year, out assisted the entire AU squad with 34 assists to the Ravens 33. Christy Swartzendruber, junior, added a team high 16 digs, while Giger lead the Leafs with three blocks.   

GC looks to get back on track as they return to Crossroads League action this Friday hosting rival Bethel College at 7 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium.